Mistaken for a Fairy
ch1

Blood soaking the earth, the lament of those who survived the loss of their kin shaking the heavens and the earth.

The surroundings filled with blood and death.

These would have been incomprehensible sentences to a modern person who had lived a peaceful life, but today was different.

"Yeona, Yeona! Your mother is dead! It's, it's my fault. I cowardly ran away, trying to save only myself!"

An old man in his twilight years grabbed the girl's arm and wailed. He was the old man who would give her a few potatoes, praising the girl for helping her parents despite their meager living.

The girl didn't understand. Had she lost both her parents and gone mad? No. If that were the case, it might have been better.

'Where is this?'

Why am I here?

The girl's name was Seo Yeon. A humble name, but one that her ignorant mother had earned with blood and sweat, serving the local influential figure for years.

Of course, the influential figure didn't put much thought into naming the daughter of a mere peasant. But Seo Yeon's mother was happy, unaware of this.

Seo Yeon's mother was always smiling. She plowed the fields better than most men and carried heavy loads with ease. Her character was so kind that there wasn't a single person in the village who hadn't received her help.

Such a person was lying dead, unable to even close her eyes.

The girl's body trembled. Vomit rose in her throat. This wasn't a beautifully packaged death in a coffin. It was real death.

She remembered laughing at those who vomited at the sight of corpses in dramas, but the cruelty of reality far surpassed her imagination.

The nauseating smell created by the mixture of internal organs and blood amplified the cruelty many times over. The corpse of someone who died without closing their eyes evoked not only horror but also fear.

'Is this my mother?'

The girl didn't have the mental capacity to even consider possession, reincarnation, or even a change in gender. All she could do was sit down and vomit.

Dizzy. Scary. Am I going to die like that too? Where is this, and why did I open my eyes in such a place?

I don't know anything. I can't understand at all.

Houses made of thatched roofs were burning everywhere, and the screams of survivors who had suffered the same tragedy echoed from all directions.

I want to run away right now.

Death, which she hadn't even felt at the funeral, was rushing in from all directions.

This place is different from modern times. It's a barbaric era where it wouldn't be strange for someone who was alive yesterday to be stabbed to death today.

The girl, no, Seo Yeon knew what this world was called.

The Murim (Martial Arts World).

A world of the survival of the fittest, where only strength is the law.

A world built under the rules of swordsmen disguised as righteous and demonic factions.

The feeling of opening her eyes as a powerless commoner in a world she once admired was utterly dreadful.

Seo Yeon had a natural talent. It was the ability to use a sword. However, after witnessing the horrors of that blood-soaked day, she wanted nothing to do with the Murim. She wanted to refuse any involvement with the Jianghu (Martial World) ever again.

Her appearance was elegant and outstanding, so if she wanted to, she could have married a man of power and enjoyed a comfortable life. But perhaps due to the influence of her previous life, she instinctively felt repulsed.

Seo Yeon went into the mountains. It was a mountain near Anhui Province, where the Namgung Clan resided. This was based on the calculation that bandits would not dare to set foot there.

And Seo Yeon used her swordsmanship not as a tool to kill people, but as a tool to carve wood.

The tip of the sword flowed along the grain of the wood, and the wood created elegant curves. Each time she continued carving, Seo Yeon's soul became peaceful, and the pent-up emotions towards her mother, who had fallen in the blood, gradually melted away.

Seo Yeon made a living by selling her carvings. She covered her face with a veil. She made the excuse that she had a hideous scar from a burn she suffered as a child, and the merchants didn't ask any further.

As time passed, Seo Yeon's skill reached a state of mastery. Her fingertips became increasingly delicate, and a strange energy bloomed in her body.

Without realizing it, Seo Yeon was using carving as a form of mental cultivation, honing a talent that was unparalleled in ancient and modern times. But she herself didn't know the truth.

Seo Yeon's appearance became even more radiant with age. Her hair was as shiny as if it contained moonlight, her skin was as white as snow, and the elegant curves drawn on her body exuded an aura as if a fairy had descended.

Seo Yeon, however, regarded such curves as cumbersome baggage.

And so, several more years passed. Seo Yeon's carving skills had now far surpassed ordinary people. Her carvings began to contain a soul. Not just the soul that connoisseurs talked about. Even the carved wood would be tricked into thinking it was alive and breathing.

Roots grew from the carvings, and leaves sprouted. Flowers bloomed and shed their leaves in the autumn breeze, and birds perched and chirped.

This was not a miracle that an ordinary artisan could perform. In the Jianghu, this was called the Natural Realm. It was said to be the supreme realm that determined life and death and transcended human boundaries, granted only to a few absolute beings throughout history.

It was around this time that her eyes and hair turned a light crimson color reminiscent of the peaches of immortality in Taoist paintings.

But Seo Yeon didn't know. She only wondered if the creator who dropped her into this world had set her as an elf hybrid.

Of course, there was no such thing as an elf in the Murim, so she just thought it was a special ability given to her when she fell into this world.

Time passed again. Seo Yeon had reached a point where she no longer even used a knife when carving. She had reached a level where she could shape wood with just her thoughts, without using a knife.

The world called this Mind Sword. It was the ultimate realm pursued by all martial artists, where the mind replaced the sword. Seo Yeon, the person in question, simply smiled modestly, saying that she wouldn't have to sharpen her carving knives anymore.

The mountain where Seo Yeon resided began to show strange changes. A clear spiritual energy filled the foothills, famous spiritual herbs began to bloom on their own, and even ordinary animals became spiritual creatures that looked up to the sky.

The news soon shook the Jianghu and was immediately reported to the hegemon of Anhui Province, the Namgung Clan.

The Namgung Clan moved quickly. They immediately declared the area as their family's territory and forbade all commoners from entering. As a result, the merchants who traded with Seo Yeon also stopped coming and going, so Seo Yeon had no idea what was happening in the outside world.

But Seo Yeon didn't even care about what was going on in the world. She was still immersed in carving.

Moreover, a giant white tiger had been following Seo Yeon around since some point. The white tiger, transformed into a majestic figure by spiritual energy, stayed by Seo Yeon's side like a shadow and acted affectionately, so she didn't have time to feel lonely.

Seo Yeon, however, was just mistaken that she had become a real druid.

Around that time, the Namgung Clan's elite Azure Sky Sword Squad moved.

Their mission was to thoroughly inspect the newly incorporated territory and guard against any intruders. This land was like a sacred place filled with elixirs and spiritual creatures, so they could not allow outsiders to set foot there.

The Azure Sky Sword Squad had already obtained information from the merchants that a woman was living in the center of the mountain.

As a group that upheld the banner of the righteous faction, the Sword Squad intended to pay a fair price and ask for her understanding rather than driving her out by force.

Thus, the Azure Sky Sword Squad cautiously approached Seo Yeon's residence deep in the mountains.

And, when they finally faced Seo Yeon.

"That is..."

A member of the Sword Squad gasped.

"Has a fairy truly descended to the mortal world?"

A woman with peach-colored hair was sitting on a pavilion near the pond, stroking a white tiger.

The sight was surreal.

The spiritual energy flowing from all directions, the beauty more beautiful than a fairy, and a magnificent white tiger that could only be seen in myths.

The Azure Sky Sword Squad even stopped breathing. This was not the human world. It was a sight that could not exist in the mundane world.

Even in the midst of this, some of the younger members suspected that they were caught in an illusion and hurriedly drew their swords.

At that moment, Namgung Sang, the leader of the Azure Sky Sword Squad, reached out like lightning and pressed down on the member's sword.

Namgung Sang was a master of the Jianghu who had gone through countless battles and crossed the line between life and death. His experienced intuition was telling him.

The recent upheaval that shook the mountains. It was all caused by that woman.

Namgung Sang took a breath. But even that breath was rough.

'I can't gauge her level.'

It's not a human level. It's the realm of a transcendent celestial being. It was no exaggeration that his subordinates were talking about a fairy.

Namgung Sang was a martial artist representing the famous Namgung Clan, but at this moment, he didn't even dare to ask her name.

'What use is the empty name of the Jianghu to someone like that?'

However, he couldn't retreat rashly. He could wipe out the Azure Sky Sword Squad if he acted carelessly. Above all, he had a responsibility as a loyal servant of the Namgung Clan to report to the head of the family.

Meanwhile,

Seo Yeon was also nervous. Judging from the pattern engraved on the scabbard with blue silk and the blue Azure Sky emblem on their backs, it was clear that they were from the Namgung Clan.

'Why is the Namgung Clan after me?'

Seo Yeon couldn't hide her embarrassment. She knew that her carving skills were excellent. That's why she only gave the merchants the most perfunctory greetings, worried that she might attract attention.

Even the insignificant things she carved with her fingers when she was bored or wiggling her toes while lying down were returned with satisfaction, saying they were precious items, so no big problems arose.

But was it wrong to stay too long? It seems that rumors had finally reached the ears of the Namgung Clan.

Just as she was thinking of running away on the back of the white tiger if things didn't work out.

Namgung Sang suddenly lowered his head.

"I apologize for disturbing your rest."

Namgung Sang's voice was sincerely solemn.

"I heard that a woman was living alone in the mountains, and I entered without much thought. Please forgive my rudeness."

Namgung Sang didn't dare to raise his head.

Seo Yeon narrowed her eyes. Through the veil, she could see Namgung Sang kneeling.

She suddenly remembered that in some of the novels and media she had seen, prestigious families like the Namgung Clan were portrayed as villainous groups.

But this Jianghu seemed a little different. At least the Namgung Clan didn't seem to be a group of evil villains.

Those who knelt down in front of a woman who was at least twice their age, simply because they had trespassed. Their humility was not just for show.

Of course, she could suspect that it was because of the white tiger, but would members of a family like the Namgung Clan, who traveled the world, be afraid of just one tiger?

Seo Yeon came to that conclusion.

She still didn't want to get involved with the Murim, but she had at least a minimum of decency.

"May I ask what brings you here?"

Seo Yeon's voice was clear. Clear and calm, like a spring breeze permeating the mountain valley. Some of the members who were impressed by the voice even held their breath for a moment.

Some of them inadvertently raised their heads to look at Seo Yeon, but then lowered their heads in shame.

Namgung Sang hesitated for a moment.

Should I lie?

Then, the moment he made eye contact with Seo Yeon, he realized.

The moment he lied in front of those eyes that seemed to see through everything, he would be in big trouble.

In the end, Namgung Sang chose to tell the truth with his head deeply bowed.

"The Namgung Clan has come to own this area, and we were going to give the residents a reasonable price... and send them away."

He didn't make any pathetic excuses, such as not knowing there was a fairy, or that it was an ignorant mistake.

He knew that being honest was the best policy.

A moment of silence passed.

"Give me three days. I need to pack my things."

"...Did we say something wrong...? What did you just say?"

Seo Yeon smiled calmly.

"I heard that it has become the land of the Namgung Clan. Then it is right for a wild person like me to leave. If I have to leave right away, can you give me just two hours?"

"N-No! You can prepare at your leisure."

Namgung Sang quickly waved his hand.

"W-Well then, I'll be on my way! Rest in peace!"

Watching the Azure Sky Sword Squad disappear in a hurry, Seo Yeon thought.

Still, the Namgung Clan has some manners.